Tagged: summer

One of my clients recently made me zucchini soup, and I had never ate it before. Expecting it to have a thin consistency with little taste, it was slightly creamy and surprisingly delicious. Her secret to texture and taste – leeks. Knowing that cooked zucchini is easy to digest and is good when your having gut issues (which I was) I decided to try making a similar soup myself. Not bad, not bad…

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add zucchini, stock, salt, pepper and Allepo (or crushed red) pepper. Bring to boil then reduce heat to low-medium, cover and simmer for 40-50 minutes, or until zucchini is tender. Remove from heat, and butter or additional olive oil and blend using an immersion blender or transfer to a blender. Add salt, pepper and Allepo pepper to desired taste.

This Sicilian-inspired pesto is perfect for summer. It uses raw tomatoes and a fresh mixture of herbs. The sauce is traditionally made with all basil, but this combination of herbs provides a burst of flavor. And, it’s simple to make. When cooking for two, I half the pasta and seal and store the remaining sauce in the refrigerator for the next day. If not having pasta, it works great as leftovers with quinoa or a white fish.

¼ cup blanched or raw almonds

1 lb cherry tomatoes, preferably heirloom

2 cups roughly chopped herbs*, 1/3 cup each of mint, parsley & basil

1 large clove garlic, crushed

½ tsp of crushed red pepper flakes

½ cup olive oil

salt

½ cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated fresh

1 lb pasta, farfalle, strozzapreti or similar

Toast the almonds and put aside to cool.

Bring large pot of water to boil. Add salt then add pasta and cook until al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, make the pesto. In a food processor, combine almonds, tomatoes, herbs, garlic, red pepper flakes and 1 tsp salt and pulse gently until thoroughly combined. Pour olive oil in at a slow, steady stream while pulsing so the mixture begins to emulsify. Continue pulsing until all oil is combined and the sauce start to form a smooth paste. For aesthetic reasons, I prefer to stop pulsing while the pesto retains some color of the tomatoes. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl then fold in the Pecorino Romano.

Add the pasta to the sauce or put the cooked, drained pasta into another large bowl and add desired amount of pesto. Toss pasta and sauce until all of the pasta is coated, adding up to a ¼ cup of pasta water if needed to break up the sauce. Place in serving bowls and garnish with herbs.

I posted this recipe over a year ago, but it wasn’t under a typical recipe heading. So, I’m reposting it. I created this as a tasty Summer/Spring salad, but it’s great for during any warm weather spell.

Combine the following chopped herbs in food processor with 1/3 cup or more olive oil. Add lemon or vinegar if desired,

1 bunch cilantro , packed

1/2 cup parsley , loose

1/4 cup each dill, mint & tarragon

Mix with the following:

2 cups (more/less as desired) cooked quinoa

small sautéed onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

1/2 to 1 serrano pepper, deseeded and chopped

3-4 green onions, sliced

generous handful of arugula, chopped

salt & pepper to taste; I also added cumin

feta, optional

If you don’t like the taste of tarragon, you could skip it or experiment with another herb…basil, sorrel, lemon thyme.

This is a vibrant vegetable salad that’s full of texture and a great pairing with many proteins or cold noodle dishes. (Try with the Mint, Cilantro and Green Onion Soba Noodles.) It tastes great fresh or the next day. Keep in mind that the next-day vegetables will taste pickled with the dressing combined. I like this salad with a bigger sour and astringent taste of vinegar. If you’re sensitive to vinegar, try adding half of the quantity first and adjust to taste.

With the recent heat wave we had, I looked for recipes that were easy with minimal cooking. I found a soba noodles recipe and modified it below to my liking. Mint and cilantro are two favorite herbs that add a stimulating and cooling, respectively, effect to meals. They worked perfectly with this cold dish.

I paired this with the Cucumber, Radish and Snap Pea Salad (shown in photo.) If I were to pair the noodles with something less sour and astringent, I would add rice vinegar to the noodles. I’d start with a tablespoon and adjust from there.

­­­­10 oz soba (buckwheat) noodles

2 Tbs avocado oil

2 Tbs soy sauce

2 ½ tsp sugar

1 ½ tsp salt

½ cup fresh mint, chopped

¼ cup cilantro, chopped

1 cup green onions, thinly sliced

freshly ground pepper to taste

Cook noodles in boiling water until just tender, about 4 minutes. Drain immediately in colander under cold water to stop noodles from cooking. Drain well and place in refrigerator.

For dressing, whisk together avocado oil, soy sauce, sugar and salt until sugar and salt are dissolved. Taste and adjust as needed.

The first time I made this recipe I used a baguette. This time I got my hands on dakos (barley rusks.) It tasted like…more…

A friend from Greece sent me the original recipe. It’s simple to make and will look familiar – the Italian’s variation is bruschetta.

However, what makes this special is the flavor combination of the dako with flavorful tomatoes, along with grating the tomatoes. I wrote this recipe using Early Girl tomatoes, which are juicy and have the right touch of sweetness and don’t necessarily need added honey. If using other tomatoes, you many want the honey to balance the acidity along with the salt. You could add capers, olives or other herbs, and sometimes I’ll add green onion.

­­­­6 small dakos (or 6 baguette slices)

6 Early Girl tomatoes

½ tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp honey (optional)

pinch of salt

freshly ground pepper

fresh basil, finely chopped

fresh thyme, finely chopped

olive oil

¼ fresh onion, finely chopped

soft cheese (optional)

Place the dako pieces onto a plate.

Cut 3 of the tomatoes in half and grate into a bowl. (If the skin doesn’t break down, pop those extra antioxidants in your mouth.) Dice the remaining 3 tomatoes and set aside.

There’s something about exciting about corn season. It takes me to a happy place where I was born and lived until almost 6 years old. We lived by a Pennsylvania dairy farm surrounded by cornfields and rolling hills, where the scenery was lush and the smells in the air were plenty. It was long ago; however, the smell of fresh corn still sparks those childhood memories of walking through cornfields and swinging on a creekside tree swing.

Inspired by farmer’s market corn freshly picked that morning and selecting the vendor’sfavorite, bi-color corn*, I searched for a recipe that was new and refreshing. I found a recipe for polenta from fresh corn from Yotam Ottolenghi. Polenta made from fresh corn seems obvious, but I’ve never thought to make it. It was different than polenta made from cornmeal, and I loved it.

This is a slight variation of the recipe (proportions and my cooking time) and I would even try different or no cheeses in the dish, depending on with what I paired it. The photo shown here is with Ottelenghi’s eggplant tomato sauce he used with the polenta. I’m already planning on trying this again with the last of the corn harvest, making with a mushroom sauce.

Serves 3-4

4 ear of corn

1 ½ cups water

2 Tbs butter

5 oz feta, crumbled

salt & pepper

Remove the husk and silk from each ear and shave off the kernels.

Put the kernels in a medium saucepan and cover them with the water. Bring to a boil then cook for 12 minutes on a low simmer. Using a slotted spoon, remove the kernels from the water into a food processor. Reserve the cooking liquid. Process the corn for several minutes to breakdown as much of the kernel case as possible. Add some of the cooking liquid if the mixture becomes to dry to process. (I didn’t have this problem.)

Return the corn paste to the pan with the cooking liquid and cook, while stirring, on low heat for 15-20 minutes. As the mixture thickens toward a mashed potato consistency, stir more frequently. Fold in the butter, feta, salt and pepper and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add more seasoning as desired.

Enjoy!

xo,

Julie

*The farmer’s market vendor gave me a reminder of the differences of the corn: yellow is more buttery, white is sweeter and bi-color is the wonderful combination of buttery and sweet.

It’s been a long time since I’ve shared a recipe. Lots of life happening…all are growth experiences. I hope I won’t be so silent for the second half of this year. While there are still berries at the farmers markets, this cake is quick and simple to make. And, it’s perfect for your summer meal.

I found this in one of my Gourmet magazines, which in my opinion was the best cooking magazine of all time. Not only did the magazine share amazing recipes and meals, but also its stories and photos mentally took you on a journey from where the recipes came. There are other publications that do the same, but this one remains my favorite. Unfortunately the magazine no longer exists, but many of the recipes can be found online. I’ve kept a couple handfuls of hard copies, and I still often browse through them for inspiration.

The original recipe was with raspberries, but my go to berry is strawberry. I’ve added lemon zest or spices (vanilla bean and/or cinnamon,) slightly reduced the sugar and made it with blueberries too. If you try it, let me know what you think!

If you live in San Francisco, you know that the summer weather is not the same as what most of the country is experiencing. It can be cold, windy and many times foggy. Living here for about 7 years, my mind still craves the raw, crisp and coolness of Summer’s harvest while my body (covered in layers rather than a sundress) needs a warmed, cooked meal. To balance my wants and needs during this season, I typically eat more raw foods at lunch and a cooked dish with big flavor or lots of spice or fresh herbs that’s filling yet not too heavy. Although typically cooked more in winter, one type of meal that brings me comfort is stew. This is a stew I recently made. A couple things to note: rather than making fresh adobo I used leftovers from a small can of chipotles in adobo, so you may want to use your favorite adobo recipe. Also, you may want to add the chipotle in small quantities to adjust for your heat preference.

1 cup puy lentils

2 Tbs olive oil

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

4 small to medium red potatoes, cubed

1 lb linguiça, casing removed and sliced

2-3 tomatoes, chopped

1 bunch kale, coarsely chopped

1/4-1 chipotle in adobo sauce, chopped

smoky paprika or spicy smoky paprika, depending on preference.

stock or water

Salt

Pepper

Vinegar (optional)

Cook lentils in 2 cups of water, adding water as need, until cooked slightly al dente. Set aside.

In a large pot, sauté onion in 1 Tbs olive oil until translucent and tender. Add garlic and ¼ tsp of the paprika and cook for additional 2-3 minutes. Remove ingredients with a slotted utensil and set aside. Leave the remaining oil in the pot. Add another 1 Tbs of olive oil and sauté potatoes until golden brown. Add some paprika, salt and pepper to lightly coat the potatoes and cook another 1 to 2 minutes. Remove potatoes from the pot and set aside. Add linguiça to pot, cooking approximately 3 minutes, and then add the tomatoes, onions and garlic, 1 tsp paprika and 1 cup stock (or water). Once tomatoes start to break down, add the chipotle and adobo. (I used ½ chipotle and 1 Tbs adobo.) Next, add kale to wilt. Then, add the lentils and potatoes. Cook for 20-30 minutes, allowing flavors to blend. More liquid can be added if a more soupy texture desired. Salt and pepper to taste. When serving, add a splash of white vinegar to the dish.

If you have less cooking time, you can continue to add the ingredients to the pot. I chose sauté the potatoes in the onion and garlic oil for texture and to adhere more flavors onto the potatoes.

I like to cook. When I get or make the time, cooking is a cathartic experience for me. When I’m motivated or inspired, I look in the fridge to see what I have, or think about for what I’m in the mood. Sometimes I follow straight from the recipe; sometimes I change ingredients or steps based on experience; and sometimes I follow a desirable color palette. Grazing through cookbooks or magazines of various cuisines and diets, and even online, I begin to anticipate what may be created next. I also love excursions to the grocery store or farmers market, seeing what’s fresh and in season to determine what colorful dish can be prepared.

I think my cooking interest really began in my early 30’s while living in Seattle. I had a group of friends, some who cooked and some who just enjoyed food. When I met my husband he worked in the service industry and also enjoyed cooking, and the foodie adventures continued. Including the major holidays, dinner parties, barbeques, restaurant excursions and take-away gatherings were the norm. My favorite experiences, and most of the time the dishes, were prepared at each other’s homes. I loved having themes and searching for new things to cook. I even enjoyed the challenge of meeting everyone’s dietary restrictions and preferences. Well, almost always…

Some of my more recent curiosities were inspired by a vegetarian cookbook full of international recipes, which was referenced in a book about Ayurveda. That led me to dig deeper with Sachi Doctor, an Ayurvedic practitioner based in San Francisco. Sachi has taught me to understand how to eat (and live) in a way that is more aligned with my mind-body constitution (dosha) and with the seasons. Thinking about reviving the group meal experience and combining it with my passions for teaching and cooking, Sachi and I collaborated to teach workshops that applied Ayurvedic principles on the mat and in the kitchen. Our next endeavors are in the works, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, I plan to share my own experiences in the kitchen. Here’s a tasty salad idea that I created for Summer/Spring.

Vibrant Quinoa Salad

Combine the following chopped herbs in food processor with 1/3 cup or more olive oil. Add lemon or vinegar if desired,

1 bunch cilantro , packed

1/2 cup parsley , loose

1/4 cup each dill, mint & tarragon

Mix with the following:

2 cups (more/less as desired) cooked quinoa

small sautéed onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

1/2 to 1 serrano pepper, deseeded and chopped

3-4 green onions, sliced

generous handful of arugula, chopped

salt & pepper to taste; I also added cumin

feta, optional

If you don’t like the taste of tarragon, you could skip it or experiment with another herb…basil, sorrel, lemon thyme.